Lookin' Up
by honestlydarkprincess
Summary: When they heard the new woman in the building yelling at someone for being a cheating bastard, they certainly weren't expecting it to be who it was. Raven adopts the woman, Clarke, into the group and Bellamy has a lot of dogs.


_**This was originally part of a multi-chapter ficlet collection but I've decided to post them all separately, so if you've read this before that's where it was from.**_

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Around three weeks ago, a stunning blonde had moved into Bellamy's apartment building. He shared an apartment with Raven and Octavia, and assumed that they'd want to meet their new neighbour too. His plan had been to invite her to dinner one night and get to know her, as, so far, all he knew about her was that she lived directly below them and was beyond gorgeous. But then work had gotten in the way and weeks had gone by before he'd remembered what he had been planning.

When he did remember, they were all hanging out at their apartment- them being himself, Raven, Octavia, Miller, and Bellamy's ex-girlfriend turned good friend, Gina. They had dated years ago and had broken up when they realized they worked better as friends. Now Gina had moved on to have a massive crush on Raven and Bellamy was the one who Gina turned to, to mope about the fact Raven wasn't single and was dating that asshole, Finn Collins. Pretty much everyone hated Finn but Raven liked him, so they said nothing.

Bellamy opened his mouth to ask if anyone had met the new girl when he was cut off by a crash. Everyone froze, the sudden silence making it easy to hear their new neighbour shout, "YOU FUCKING CHEATING BASTARD!"

Everyone stayed quiet and shared a glance. They could hear a male voice murmuring in reply but he spoke too quietly for them to hear what he was saying. When they heard another crash, Bellamy decided to go check on her. Raven tagged along, worried about the girl. The rest of the gang wished them good luck, with Gina calling out after them that they should invite the girl over once she threw the guy out.

Bellamy and Raven walked down to the new girl's apartment in silence, sharing a small, worried glance when the yelling just got louder the closer they got.

When they reached the apartment, Bellamy knocked twice softly and they waited. Bellamy was struck dumb by the tiny, beautiful blonde who opened the door. Sure, he had seen her a few times in passing and knew she was gorgeous, but those few glances didn't do her justice. She was short and curvy with stormy blue eyes and Bellamy hadn't known he had a type before this but apparently he did and she was the embodiment of it.

The blonde in front of them huffed angrily as she opened the door but as soon as she saw them she closed her eyes and it was clear she was trying to calm herself down. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes again and gave them a small, friendly albeit confused smile. "Yes?"

Raven realized that Bellamy wasn't going to be the one to speak, so she cleared her throat, "Hi, yes, um-I'm Raven and this is Bellamy; we live in the apartment above you and heard yelling. We just wanted to check on you and make sure you were okay?"

"Oh," The woman replied sheepishly, a guilty look on her face. "I'm so sorry for bothering you and for the noise. I just found out my boyfriend is a lying, cheating piece of shit."

Raven opened her mouth to reassure the woman- because honestly she wasn't upset at her for the noise, she was just wanted to make sure the woman was okay- but was cut off by the male voice from earlier- the lying, cheating piece of shit, presumably- "Clarke, please, I'm sorry!"

"Shut up, Finn. I don't want to hear it," The woman, Clarke, snarled into the apartment.

Both Raven and Bellamy froze, recognizing the voice and the name. Raven paled while Bellamy flushed in anger. Clarke noticed their reactions and her brows drew together in confusion.

"Uh, is everything okay?" Clarke asked softly, worrying her lip between her teeth.

Raven straightened her shoulders and barged passed Clarke into the apartment. Clarke's confusion grew and she looked at Bellamy for an explanation before she heard Finn's surprised yelp of "Raven?!"

"Fuck," Clarke whispered, looking at Bellamy. "That's his girlfriend, isn't it?"

Bellamy nodded, feeling sympathy for the woman when her face crumbled and tears formed in her eyes.

"I didn't know, I swear," She babbled, looking desperate for Bellamy to believe her. "I just found out tonight, I promise."

"I know," Bellamy reassures, hesitating for a moment before lifting his arm, offering a hug. It was kind of awkward because they had just met but she just looked so fucking sad and she collapsed gratefully into his arms. Clarke flinched when the yelling started up again from her apartment- only this time it was Raven yelling instead of her- and Bellamy tightened his arms around her, letting her bury her face in his chest. He tried not to notice how well she fit into his arms because she had just found out her boyfriend had been cheating on her, all she needed right now was some comfort.

The yelling continued on for about another ten minutes and didn't seem like it was going to end anytime soon.

"Do you want to come up to our apartment for a bit?" Bellamy asked her softly, figuring that she needed to get away from the yelling since she flinched every time there was a particularly loud moment.

"I really do," Clarke sighed into his chest, unconsciously nuzzling her cheek against his sternum. "But I don't want to leave Raven alone. Finn scares me when he's angry."

Bellamy tensed, tightening his arms protectively around the woman in his arms. He had known Finn was an asshole, pretty much just a piece of shit, but he hadn't gotten the sense that he was dangerous when he was angry. He knew that Raven could hold her own in a fight, being a former kick-boxer and all around badass, but he still wanted to protect his friend.

But before he could do anything, Raven was pushing Finn out of the apartment. Bellamy stepped to the side, bringing Clarke with him unconsciously. She didn't seem to mind, just readjusted herself so she was still in his arms but could see Finn and Raven.

"Raven, come on!" Finn whined, sounding childish and pathetic.

"No, Finn," Raven growled, her eyes flashing angrily. She angled her body in front of Clarke protectively and spat out, "Get the fuck out. Don't you ever come near us again. I swear to the heavens if I find out you're bothering Clarke, I will build a fucking robot that will take care of you without leaving a trace. Stay away from me and stay the fuck away from her."

Finn looked around Raven at Clarke, pleadingly, making Bellamy roll his eyes because how dumb is this boy, but Clarke just turned around and buried her face in Bellamy's chest again. Raven pushed Finn one more time and pointed to the staircase. Finn sighed and flounced away, shoulders sagging and pouting unattractively.

As soon as Finn was out of sight, Clarke reluctantly untangled herself from Bellamy's embrace. "Thank you, you guys. I, um, guess I'll get out of your hair."

Bellamy was usually terrible at reading people but found it really easy to read Clarke and she clearly didn't want to be alone right now but didn't want to inconvenience them. Luckily, Raven saw this too and jumped in.

"Oh no you don't!" She exclaimed, making Clarke look at her in confusion. "There's no way I'm letting you be alone after that shit show. I know I sure as hell don't want to be alone. Come on, you can come hang out with us. We have pizza on the way, beer, and friends that are slightly insane but you'll love them."

Clarke bit her lip, hesitating even though she could tell Raven was genuinely inviting her and not just doing so out of pity or politeness. She got the feeling Raven didn't do anything out of politeness if she didn't want to.

"Okay, that sounds fun," Clarke said softly, giving the two a small, happy smile. "Can I just go get changed quickly?"

Clarke was dressed in black skinny jeans, a flowy white top, a black blazer, and a pair of black ankle boots that didn't look all that fun to wear for long periods of time. In short, she looked fucking amazing.

"Yeah, of course!" Raven said, understandingly. "Do you want us to wait out here or?"

"Oh!" Clarke yelped, realizing that they were awkwardly just hanging in front of her apartment. "Come in, come in. It's a bit messy but make yourself at home."

They entered the apartment and Bellamy closed the door behind him. He and Raven looked around curiously, trying to get more of a sense of their neighbour from her apartment. Clarke had disappeared down the hall to where Bellamy assumed was her bedroom but he tried to block those thoughts out of his mind.

It was a small and homey apartment. From what they could see, it was two bedrooms; and while they couldn't see Clarke's room, they could see what was clearly her makeshift art studio occupying the other room. The walls were covered in her art and Bellamy could see she was extremely talented.

Bellamy was admiring one of Clarke's paintings- it was of a young, blonde girl, who looked eerily similar to Clarke, laughing with an older man, who Bellamy guessed was her father, as they walked, hand in hand, through a forest. The detail was incredible and Bellamy felt like he could almost hear their laughter and feel the breeze on his face. He was still staring at her painting in awe when Clarke came back, coming up beside him silently. He looked down at her and found her gazing at the painting, eyes glued to the man's face, looking at him with such fondness and longing that Bellamy had to look away.

"That was my dad," Clarke whispered after a moment. Bellamy tensed slightly, worried that he had made her upset by snooping her art and looking at such a private painting. But Clarke was relaxed and there was no anger in her eyes. "He loved the forest."

"It's a beautiful painting," Bellamy said softly, not knowing what else to say. It felt like an inadequate response but it was what he came up with.

But Clarke didn't seem to mind, she just grinned up at him and nodded her thanks. She opened her mouth to say something but Raven cleared her throat obnoxiously from behind them.

"Sorry to interrupt but the pizza arrived and it's calling my name," Raven exclaimed excitedly, bouncing slightly on her toes.

Bellamy rolled his eyes, "Alright, alright, we're coming."

Clarke giggled softly at the two friends and grabbed her phone and keys off the small table near the door. She had changed into a comfy-looking pair of sweatpants and a tank top that said 'Griffin' on the back and had the number 3 on the front. It was a few sizes too big and Bellamy guessed it was her dad's. Since it was too big, Bellamy could clearly see the black lace of her bra at the sides and that really wasn't good for his health. He could also see a tattoo peaking out below the side of her bra but the shirt covered too much for him to make out what it was. And damn did he want to find out what it was. Not that that was the only reason he wanted to get Clarke out of her shirt, but it was definitely one of them.

Bellamy shook himself from his thoughts and flushed, hoping that Clarke hadn't caught him staring. From the sly look Raven was sending him, she had definitely seen, but Clarke seemed to be oblivious, thankfully.

They walked upstairs to the apartment in comfortable silence. Bellamy saw Clarke shift nervously when they got to their door but didn't have a chance to say anything to her because Raven was throwing open the door and tugging Clarke inside.

"We're back! And we've adopted a stray!" Raven yelled into the apartment, dragging Clarke into the living room where everyone was, leaving Bellamy to close and lock the door.

"Please tell me you didn't adopt another dog!" Octavia exclaimed as she walked out of the kitchen. "Bellamy, you already have three dogs!"

"Jesus, O," Bellamy groaned, rubbing his face in exasperation. "I didn't adopt any more dogs."

Clarke smiled at the interaction between the two, guessing that they were siblings by their similar features and familiar banter. As soon as she mentioned the dogs, Clarke immediately started looking around the apartment. There were definite signs that dogs lived there but she couldn't see any dogs. But, as soon as Bellamy spoke, she heard the telltale sounds of a dog, or in this case, dogs, scrambling to meet him.

Clarke gasped softly as three beautiful dogs came into view. Bellamy dropped to the floor and braced himself, just in time too since not a second later he was nearly bowled over by three huge dogs. They were all different breeds- one was a German Shepard, the other was a Pitbull, and the last was an Alaskan Malamute. They were all absolutely gorgeous and Clarke was pretty sure she was in love. All her attention was solely on the three dogs, who had come to investigate the new person. As soon as Clarke sat down on the floor, the dogs were sniffing her and licking her face while Clarke giggled and tried to pet all of them at once.

"I'll introduce her to you guys once she's done with Bellamy's children but here's what happened…" Clarke heard Raven start before her attention was drawn to Bellamy when he sat beside her.

The dogs couldn't seem to decide which of them to go to, so Clarke and Bellamy both had lapfuls of wriggling dogs that were way too big to be lap dogs but didn't seem to give a single fuck.

"What are their names?" Clarke asked, pressing kisses to their heads and scratching their fur. Each of them seemed to want her attention and Clarke was having the time of her life.

"This little one is Eos," Bellamy said, pointing at the Pitbull, who was most definitely not little. Eos' tail thumped against the floor in excitement as she heard her name.

"Hi, Eos," Clarke cooed, pressing kisses to her square head and getting a wet lick in return.

"This is Helios," Bellamy murmured, scratching the head of the German Shepard and nodded his head at the Alaskan Malamute who was trying to bury her face in Clarke's hair. "And that is Selene."

Clarke repeated her greeting and kiss to Helios and Selene before grinning brightly at Bellamy, "Greek mythology, huh?"

Bellamy flushed, pleased that she understood the reference. Before he could say anything, though, Octavia plopped herself down in front of Clarke and grinned, shark-like, at the blonde. "Yeah, he's a huge nerd. I'm Octavia, Bellamy's sister."

Clarke shook the brunette's hand, giving her a shy smile. "Hi, I'm Clarke."

"Welcome to the building, Clarke," Octavia said, giving Bellamy a knowing smirk before she was up again and headed towards the living room to hear the rest of Raven's story.

Clarke stared after her for a moment before turning to Bellamy, "Is she single?"

Bellamy gaped, the question taking him by complete surprise. He pushed away the pang of disappointment but dutifully replied, "Uh, yeah. As far as I know, being her big brother, she's single."

Clarke grinned happily and this time the pang in Bellamy's chest was stronger. "Good! I know I just met her but I know someone who will be perfect for her."

Bellamy raised an eyebrow, hiding his relief that she wasn't interested in his sister romantically. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yup!" Clarke beamed. "It's my best friend- Lincoln. I don't usually set up my friends with people I just met but I have a good feeling about this."

Bellamy smiled gently at her, heart swelling at the look of happiness and pride on her face.

"Go ahead, then. As long as he treats her well, then by all means," Bellamy said, even though he knew that Octavia didn't need his permission or approval to date someone. She was 23 for christ's sake, he knew she could make her own decisions and trusted her to ask for help if she made bad ones.

"Don't worry, he'll treat her like a fucking queen," Clarke murmured back, sensing that it was more than just brotherly caution he was feeling. "Honestly, he's one of the best people I know. He may look terrifying but he's the sweetest teddy bear you'll ever meet."

Bellamy nodded reluctantly, hoping that everything she said was true. He really had no reason not to believe her because she didn't have anything to gain from lying. So if O wanted to go on a date with this guy, then he was going to be happy for her.

Bellamy nodded once more, to himself this time, and stood up, feeling only a little guilty when the dogs whined in disappointment. But really, he wasn't as young as he used to be and he couldn't sit on the hard floor for long periods of time anymore. He was an old man and his ass was starting to fall asleep.

"Come on," Bellamy said, offering Clarke a hand up. "You should meet everyone."

Clarke let Bellamy hoist her up but didn't let go of his hand like he expected her to. Not that he was complaining.

"Alright, everyone," Bellamy announced once they were fully in the living room and no longer obscured by dogs. "This is Clarke!"

Clarke gave a small smile, waving nervously. She didn't have too long to be nervous though because suddenly Raven was pulling her down onto the couch and introducing everyone to her.

"Okay, so this is Miller," She pointed to a grouchy looking guy with dark skin, a scruffy beard, and a light grey beanie tugged over his head. He gave her a nod and a ghost of a smile and Clarke made a mental note to introduce him to Monty. "He's an asshole but we love him. You've already met Octavia and this lovely lady is Gina," Raven introduced, making a dramatic sweeping motion as she pointed towards a beautiful brunette who was curled up in one of the arm chairs. Clarke noticed the way Gina blushed at Raven's words, practically glowing, giving Clarke a small smile before unconsciously turning her gaze back to Raven. Huh. Interesting.

Once they had all been introduced, time seemed to blur together. The night was full of pizza, booze, laughter and good times. As the hours passed, Clarke realized she hadn't had this much fun in a very long time. And, to be honest, she'd hardly given Finn more than a passing thought since she walked into the apartment.

"Alright, people, get out," Raven grumbled sleepily from her place almost dozing on Gina's shoulder. When Gina shifted and made to get up, Raven threw an arm over her stomach, keeping her in place. "Nope, not you. You're comfy, you can stay."

Gina grinned fondly, brushing some of Raven's hair away out of her eyes. But she shifted again to get up, this time tugging Raven up with her gently. "Come on, let's get you to a bed. You know how cranky you get when you fall asleep on the couch."

Raven just mumbled something that no one could make out and leaned most of her weight on Gina, letting the brunette woman guide her to her room.

"Night, Bell," Octavia muttered, interrupting herself with a jaw-cracking yawn. She waved in Clarke's general direction and managed to get out a, "It was nice meeting you, Clarke! Goodnight!" Before she dragged herself to what Clarke presumed was her room.

Miller gave Clarke the same nod and small smile as he did when they were introduced and clapped Bellamy on the shoulder. He tugged on his shoes and was out the door after giving them a mock salute.

Bellamy and Clarke were the only ones left in the room and Clarke didn't want to move from her place sprawled out on one of the couches. Selene was curled by her head, graciously letting Clarke use her as a pillow. Helios was laying half on her and half behind her, trapped between her and the couch, but was snoring happily, so he didn't seem to mind. Finally, Eos was curled up resting on Clarke's feet. In short, Clarke was happy, warm, and really, really didn't want to move.

Bellamy was sitting on the arm chair, gazing at Clarke curled up with his dogs in fondness. He'd never seen his dogs take to another human so quickly and completely. Usually, they were excited to meet new people but it took them a while before they showed continued affection to someone. So having them curl up with someone they had just met less than 5 hours ago was unprecedented.

"You can stay here if you want," Bellamy offers, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. He doesn't want her to feel like she has to stay but she just looks so comfortable right now.

"Oh thank god," Clarke laughs. "I'm so comfortable right now and these dogs are so warm. I promise I'll be out of your hair as soon as I wake up in the morning."

But Bellamy just waved her off. "Don't worry about it, honestly. Raven wasn't kidding when she said we adopted you into the group. No getting out now."

It's clear that he's just teasing and Clarke feels happy with the thought that he's comfortable enough with her to tease her already.

"No complaints here," Clarke sighs happily, snuggling deeper into the couch and against the dogs. She can feel her eyes starting to droop but it feels kind of rude to just go to sleep with Bellamy still there. Thankfully, she doesn't have to worry about it because about a minute later Bellamy is getting up and turning out the lights, wishing her a goodnight as he heads to his own room.

Clarke calls back a good night and shuts her eyes. Sleep comes to her very quickly that night, as she hadn't felt so warm and content in a long time. Funny how, when tonight had started, it had seemed like it was going to be one of the worst nights of her life and it had somehow ended up being one of the best. Finn cheating on her really sucked but she hadn't really been all that invested in the relationship. She was tired of being lonely so she had agreed to go on a date with him. When she had found the texts on his phone to whom she now knew was his real girlfriend, and she was the other woman, she had been angry and annoyed that she hadn't picked up on it. But the shit that had happened with Finn had caused her to meet Bellamy and Raven, plus the rest of the gang.

Things were definitely looking up.

* * *

 **I hope you liked it!**


End file.
